Lanterns

[eyepatrol]

Can anyone recommend a good lantern for using in my portable? Either battery operated or fuel. And, do they make fuel lanterns where you don't need a match to get them started?

Thanks!

[Bobb-o]

the coleman northstar has electric ignition, my dad has one and loves it, but for ice fishing i think the larger lanterns are a little bulky, i bought a single mantle propane lantern from coleman that run off of the one pound LP tanks and love it, it fits right in my ice fishing bucket with all my rods and such and throws off plenty of light.

[GoodToGo]

I agree with single mantle. I have an older coleman, very portable, screws onto a 1 lb tank. I recommend getting one that takes #51 mantles, as they are attached top and bottom, and are much less likely to break during transport.

[Surface Tension]

You can get Coleman lanterns with or without the igniter.

I have both propane and gas lanterns and use them both but for the portable propane is the way to go just for the fact your not messing with gas in the cold. If your lantern doesn't have the igniter, Coleman make a flint type igniter you can add to any lantern.

You might have noticed I've used the name Coleman a few times here, thats because I've owned a other cheap lanterns and prefer Coleman.

[Gissert]

Brunton makes a great little unit called the Glorb. The cool thing they can be run w/o a mantle if it breaks the light output is a lot less w/o a mantle, but still enough to see. This is a butane unit. Another plus is its size. I can fit the whole case in a pocket of my bibs.

In mantle mode, it probably puts out as much light as a 60 watt bulb, in candle mode, about 1/3 of that.

The drawback is its price. Brunton is pretty proud of their gear. I bought mine at a RMEF banquet.

Hard to beat a Coleman unit too. When it gets really cold, my Coleman comes with me for the extra heat it provides.

[Surface Tension]

About the battery lanterns, they don't last very long and don't throw off as much light. If your going with voltage lighting for a portable, theres a very good thread going on that. here

[Tyler Holm]

I've got a white fuel Coleman lantern from the 60's and it still works great. The white fuel is cheaper in the long run.

The gas lanterns are a little more bulky that the propane ones because you can't break them down. Just something else to think about.

[Ralph Wiggum]

I got a Brinkmann dual mantle propane this year and I really like it so far. Puts out a good amount of light, has a built in reflector thing so you can have 360 degrees of light or reflect most of the light in one direction, and has a wire cage around the globe to protect it.

[eyepatrol]

Thanks for the helpful replies fellas. I'm going to print this post out and do some looking.

[tonka]

i bought a dual mantle coleman northstar lantern a few years ago and i love it! its been my experience that white gas lanterns always burn brighter then propane but this propane lantern is the brightest i've ever used period.

[Farley]

I have the Coleman "Dual Fuel" lantern with 2 mantles and it's been good to me. Ran it on gasoline for the first year because it was easier to come by than the white gas (no tackle\bait shops in cokato then) but after we managed to grow back a few brain cells I've used the coleman white gas ever since. Burns much cleaner.

[picksbigwagon]

two questions for you I guess, how bright do you wast it, how bright do you need it?

I used to use a double mantle white gas, and I have used a double mantle propane, but I was constantly breaking the glass part of the lantern or the mantles would fall apart. This winter after I broke my 5th glass globe, I was at Walmart and I was going to spend another 8 bucks on a globe when I saw the single mantle propane colman lantern for 12 bucks.....I bought it and it has worked great. It has a wire cage around the globe, the mantel has lasted 4 outings, including bouncing around in my ice house as we went from spot to spot on Mille Lacs,

BUT, there is not a ton of light, adequate yes, but not alot......If you want light to see, but not so much that you need to turn the lantern down go with a single mantle lantern. I Run one in my voyager and I think it works great. my buddy thinks it's barely enough, of course he likes to fish in short sleeves all day too, he's kind of wimpy like that

[vikingmeatwad]

Quote:

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the coleman northstar has electric ignition, my dad has one and loves it, but for ice fishing i think the larger lanterns are a little bulky, i bought a single mantle propane lantern from coleman that run off of the one pound LP tanks and love it, it fits right in my ice fishing bucket with all my rods and such and throws off plenty of light.

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Coleman northstar ma boy!

[Feldy]

Try the 18v dewalt shop light. Has built in hook and can take a beating. Plus recharchable batteries that last for up to 4 hours of the brightest light needed. I only needed two batteries with charger all weekend. Best thing ever!